Fishing in Oklahoma: Trout

In Oklahoma you can fish for trout year round. There are only two places where you can trout fish year round in Oklahoma: Lower Illinois River and Lower Mountain Fork River. Other locations that are not year round include Quartz Mountain, Lake Watonga, Lake Carl Etling, Blue River, Lake Pawhuska, and Robbers Cave State Park. Lake Pawhuska, Blue River and Lake Watonga’s trout season is from November 1^st through March 31^st. Robbers Cave and Quartz Mountain’s season is from November 1^st through March 15^th. Lake Carl Etling’s season is from November 1^st through April 30^th. You have to buy a trout license, which an adult’s is $10 and a youth under 17 is $5. There is a daily limit of six rainbow trout per person in all areas except the lower Mountain Fork River. There is a daily limit of six Brown Trout except at the lower Mountain Fork River and Lower Illinois River where the limit is one. Lower Mountain Fork River requires a daily limit of one rainbow trout at a minimum of 20 inches in red zones. In blue zones there is a daily limit of one brown trout and six rainbow trout.

With a standard crappie rod and reel you can catch your daily limit just as easily as the fly fisherman can. You will require hooks that are small, the smaller they are the better they work. You will need a rod and reel that has six pound test line or less, the smaller the line the better. You will not need any bobbers because these deter the fish because they are too easily seen. For live bait you can use salmon eggs. Another great type of bait that I prefer is dough bait. The best brand that I have found is PowerBait’s Chroma-Glow Dough bait. You will roll this dough into little balls and then put it on your hook. You should get a big variety of colors because when one color does not work well with the fish, a completely different color will. We use this bait with or without glitter. The best that I have used have been chartreuse, orange, rainbow, pink, and yellow. All of these baits are very bright, which the brighter the better because fish can easily see the bright colors. I do caution you to not buy the pre-made into balls dough bait because it will not stick to the hook as well. Another interesting type of bait is corn, which trout also enjoy. You can use artificial bait such as flies also. When using artificial bait, such as flies though, it is very important to use them with spinner baits or something else that is shiny. As always it is very fun to fish for trout. Many times it is not hard to limit out within a few hours, so always have other activities ready for when you do.

One more important item to remember is to always be prepared with sun block. Learn from me, it only took a matter of five minutes for me to get a third degree sunburn on my legs while fishing on an ozone day. If you fish at the Lower Illinois River, I caution you to listen very closely for the sirens because that means that the water will rise quickly because they have opened the flood gates on the Tenkiller Lake Dam. Grab your fishing stuff and let’s have some fun. One of these days I might just see you there.

Oklahoma Wildlife Department, “Trout Area Information.” Oklahoma Wildlife Department. URL: (http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishregs/troutarea.htm)
Oklahoma Wildlife Department, “General Trout Regulations.” Oklahoma Wildlife Department. URL: (http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishregs/generaltroutregulations.htm)